Bernie Ecclestone bucks the trend in drawing up plans to avoid another Honda

Honda? Who are they? They make lawnmowers don't they. Bernie Ecclestone has
already moved on. Nine teams on the Formula One grid next year, so what?
Honda will not be missed was the unmistakable inference to be drawn from
Kensington this week as the indefatigable 78-year-old nurses his baby
through the credit crunch virus.

Grand plans: Bernie Ecclestone says he wants Formula One teams to commit themselves for the long termPhoto: Reuters

By Kevin Garside

9:25PM GMT 23 Jan 2009

The 2009 campaign begins in 63 days. The birthing season is well under way with odd-looking specimens emerging from digital wombs known as wind tunnels. Ugly creatures they are, too. Broad wings at the front coupled with narrow, steep, box-like attachments at the rear speak of a difficult birth. Not to mention the dreaded KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) device.

This guilt-driven eco trip initiated by F1's regulatory body, the FIA, is intended, along with sundry tree-planting exercises across the globe, to demonstrate Formula One's sensitivity to green issues and offset a carbon footprint etched by cars that burn fuel at 3mpg. The immediate relevance of KERS to F1 is the theoretical power boost available to drivers at the flick of a switch. Whether the teams can get it to work is another matter.

Ecclestone would prefer the teams concentrated on sport and left the saving of the planet to the relevant authorities. "I have always been against KERS. Whatever they use in F1 they won't use in a road car, but if that is to be the idea then why not develop it in touring cars. It costs a lot of money when we are trying to save it."

As well as the strictures of reconfiguring cars to meet regulations shaped by eco and cost-cutting initiatives, team owners are on the stump campaigning for a greater slice of the F1 prize fund and a more transparent and accountable management structure. The fight is being led by Ferrari's president, Luca di Montezemolo, whose pious playing of the Maranello card is seen as the most effective way of making Ecclestone jump.

Oh yes? Ecclestone responded to the appeal for more money by suggesting they accept less. "If they are spending less they don't need as much, do they?" Ecclestone said. "I was only being mischievous, really, playing the teams at their own game."

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Ecclestone's big idea for 2009 is to lock the teams into a long-term contract in exchange for greater fiscal freedoms and the supply of cheap drive trains to non-manufacturer teams. The proposal appears opposed to current thinking, which advocates a tightening, not loosening of accounts. Despite the evidence offered by Honda's demise, Ecclestone is hedging his bets that the big players such as BMW, Toyota and Mercedes will buy into his scheme because, whatever the climate, they can't help themselves in the F1 toy box.

"I always said we should give all those fancy engineers gold-plated consoles and send them off somewhere to play. That's all they do anyway and it would be far cheaper," Ecclestone said. "We could get the real job done. If the manufacturers are prepared to make a long-term commitment, say seven to 10 years, we should let them spend what they want to spend, providing they supply engines and gearboxes at an affordable price.

"Whether they will commit to that I don't know. Getting them to agree on anything has always been the problem. But if they did it would prevent the kind of thing we have seen with Honda because we could sue the arse off them if they left. They wouldn't like that."

FOTA (Formula One Teams Association), the latest in a long line of paddock unions, are pressing ahead with the development of their own ideas for the future of the sport, with Di Montezemolo at the vanguard. Ecclestone was a founder member of a previous incarnation of FOTA in his post as Brabham owner. The lawyer he engaged to represent the teams in the political rutting against the regulatory body 30 years ago was the same president, Max Mosley, who leads the FIA today.

"There are two ways of running this sport. You either let the teams shape the rules, which they can't because they can never agree on anything, or let the FIA write the regulations and let's get on with it. The FIA could simply say this is the entry form, if you want to join in, these are the rules, sign here. The FIA would then police the championship. Ideally the teams would get themselves organised. Maybe they will this time."

Ecclestone has not given up on his campaign to restore the primacy of race wins to the enterprise. "The rejection of my medal system pisses me off. It is not fair that the winner scores only two points more than second place. We changed the points distribution because Eddie Jordan was complaining that it looked bad for sponsors to see a team without points. He never considered how bad it might look for his team to have four points and the championship winners 128.

"Forget medals. It is about a system that rewards winning, makes it worth a driver's while to win and not settle for second place. Why would you risk going into a wall for two lousy points? You might if there was more to gain. They say cars don't overtake any more. That is down to the drivers. They don't always have to win to become a champion. Crazy."

Ecclestone's enthusiasm for the empire he has built is undiminished. He laughs at the suggestion he might take over the FIA presidency from Mosley this year. "Max doesn't get paid. Even if they paid me 10 times what I earn now I wouldn't do it."

His focus thus remains on his product. "We are not pessimistic in the slightest. Nine teams won't make any difference. It is about drivers, not teams. Young [Sebastien] Vettel is fantastic. I think he is super talented and ballsy. It would be interesting if we could see him in the same car as Lewis Hamilton. Just as it would have been to see Senna and Schumacher in the same car."

Ecclestone said he would put money on the outcome of Vettel v Hamilton. You'll have to read the book to discover on whose back his cash might be riding.